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[pez]

Holy Carpet Right Lord Sigmund!



Friday
storme and I packed in the morning, having piled everything we needed together the night before. Left home in plenty of time, and even had enough time to get a decent lunch at Waterloo before going to Southampton. This is perhaps a first for us.

Got there, checked in, etc etc. Found a few people we know (we hardly know anyone!) and others we've talked with online before but never met. Face + names = good. Got a call from work which went along the lines of:

Me: *checks phone*
SMS from work: sorry we know you're on leave but can we talk to you now.
Me: OK, call me. *leaves lobby, stands outside instead*
Work: Hello. You've lost your job.^#
Me: OK. Chat later thxbai. *hangs up*
Me: TO THE BAR!

^#Details: on consultation until April, followed by 6 weeks of notice. Might be able to change to part time. We'll see.

Went to Nert's utterly hilarious and very informative Cosplay Photography panel. I was most amused by the "camera make vs attractiveness" slides. XD

Was fed much pizza during the opening party. Watched Kelly put her arm up the backend of a chocobo pinata.





Apparently shoving your hand up a chocobo's arse is a group sport.






And you can even wear it on your head!

Chatted with people. Drank. Went to bed.


Saturday
After breakfast we got dressed in Rush and Dave outfits because they are comfy and we love them. Took pictures of people, had our pictures taken, ate food (hotel katsudon was not very good, and the lobby stank of boiled cabbage for a while.)


This is Rush. He looks normal. BUT DON'T BE FOOLED.



Give him creche duty and he ends up playing with the toys himself.






TOYS NOT FOR EATING.















I was told to do the Dave headtilt (tm).



WHO'S UR DADDY.
(No Rush, definitely not you.)




More photos of us somewhere here and here, taken by people who actually know how to use a camera. I particularly like this one:



Spent money at dealer's room. Storme got a book on cosplay makeup, and bought me a cupcake necklace from Dragon Dreads. I got a birdcage necklace and a Cogsworth SCIENCE! bottle opener/keyring from khaoskomix. I never buy very much at events... not really interested in merchandise these days.





......



Storme got me one of these.









The cosplay makeup book is pretty good.


Tab's table had the usual shiny things. *_*


It is a table of evil because I like pocket watches.

Mucked around some more. Don't think we went to any of the screenings/panels, there wasn't anything we were particularly interested in. Sat down at the bar with some people and had really interesting conversations. You know how I'm always pretty cynical about stuff? I've mellowed out quite a bit these days, or perhaps I just direct all my cynicism towards work now. But it turns out I haven't been cynical enough about certain people; I've been having a bit of suspicion in the back of my head but just ignored it when I should have thought about it more. Long story short, I understand where they're coming from but I don't like it, and I shan't be participating in competitions run by certain people anymore, and not help out unless I see the benefits to me laid out on the table.

In the evening we got changed into Edward and Sigmund (I always try to say "Edmund and... wait.") for the masquerade. Waited in a queue near a girl dressed as Ash from Pokemon who said this was her first con, first masq and first skit - talk about jumping down the deep end. She was Very Loud and Offensive, I couldn't tell if it's because she was on her own and was overcompensating, or if she was on her own because she was Very Loud and Offensive and therefore had no friends. This conversation happened:

Pokemon Girl: I THOUGHT YOU WERE A BOY.
Me: Okay?
[a moment later]
PG: So like, you guys are together? Like you're actually gay?
Me & Storme: Yeaaaah?
PG: OMG can I watch you guys make out? Cos I'm a yuri fan!
Me & Storme: .....................................................Nooooo, because that'd be deeply weird.
PG: Can I see you guys hug then?
Me & Storme: ..........................Noooooo. (Besides, we're in armour. Can't fucking hug.)

Yeah, that was fucking weird. I try to be accepting towards people in the cosplaying circles because they often take enough beatings from other areas of life already, but. Really. WTF?

Then later on she proceeded to offend Kii-chan by asking, after Kii-chan pulled her long wig off to reveal very short hair, "oh are you actually a girl?" to which Kii-chan replied, with her hands on her boobs, "these are real, bitch."

I would've applauded if I wasn't holding my gauntlets and sword.

I heard she also offended Scarlett by saying the series Scarlett was cosplaying from was shit. Ah, social skills.

The masq itself was fun. Loads of cool costumes and funny acts, though PG apparently did a terrible skit and made Pikachu cry on PictoChat. I went in after her so I didn't see, but there are people uploading videos of the whole masq.

Storme and I won the "By the Power of Grayskull" prize. XD Our rewards were a Gloomy Bear speaker and an Angry plush from "Hangry and Angry" (don't ask me, I've no idea what they are either.)

Missed the charity auction because I was dying of hunger by the end of the masq. Changed (mostly) out of the costumes and joined people for dinner.

Cosplayers' idea of being sociable sometimes involve the DS:






We admired the Supermoon. Freezing in the night. Is it really mid-March?


Sunday
Breakfast. I love food. Got dressed as Ed and Sigmund again so that we can get some photos taken. I'm now sick of armour. I'll repair Sigmund for some detail photos for a tutorial, but what I really want to do is destroy the boots in a fit of rage.

We're waiting for photos, but for now have these:
























Hotel burger was superior to the katsudon. Hung around to be sociable again. Went to the con panel and gave some feedback, then went to the crossplay panel which was rather fun (and kudos to Tab for not murdering PG (now dressed as a Naruto character), who was talking so much and so loudly behind me I wanted to turn around and strangle her. Maybe I'm just short tempered.) I think the panel was more suitable for crossplaying and crossdressing in general, but I often pick pretty boys from games/anime and they don't have manly faces etc anyway so the makeup tips don't apply as well. And yeah I've realised that when I'm not in heels, I walk like a bloke. And also sit like one when I'm crossplaying. It's not even deliberate. >_>

The closing ceremony was unremarkable.

thephoenixboy came to the hotel to pick us up in the evening. :D She showed us the way to the high street and we had a really lovely dinner.

Back in the hotel, people were determined to at least stay up past midnight. XD I guess we are all old and frail. I was pretty hyper actually but Storme wanted bed so bed it was.


Monday
Everybody wanted to go home and yet didn't want to leave. We had time between checkout and train, so we wandered into town and found the magical place called Fabric Land. Money was spent. I have fabric for the skirt I'm making for Kitacon, rejoice! \o/

A long trek home. Met up with Ben for dinner; no food at home and there was no way we'd cook anyway!

Sewed a bit before going to bed. I'm making a stay. We'll see how that turns out.

That's it I think. Bring on Kitacon! We've booked hotel, got leave from work and got train tickets sorted. But costumes are not ready yet, oops. And need to pack for the dealer's table too. PANICMODE.